The washing of large numbers of glasses or mugs and the like becomes a burdensome problem for hotels, drive inns, bars, lounges, restaurants, hospitals, and such institutions in general. Cleaning is a primary object while a standard of sterilization must be complied with followed by conditioning for reuse. The cleaning requires removal of all foreign matter such as lipstick, and residue from foods such as buttermilk and juices or dried pulp deposits. The sterilization is standardized by washing with water containing chemicals maintained at 140.degree. F. And, the conditioning requires the return of the washed and sterilized glasses to room temperature or less as circumstances require. These requirements are met with by the present invention which provides a compact and fully automatic washer that eliminates all hand operations. With the present invention, there is a cold pre-rinse followed by a wash with a chemical sprayed under pressure onto the glasses at the high temperature to thoroughly cleanse them, and thereafter a cold rinse with disinfectant conditions the glasses so that they are immediately reuseable.
Heretofore, glass washers have been cumbersome machines with separation of the various functional requirements, such as separate chambers or separate time intervals for the process of pre-rinse, washing, and final rinsing. Consequently, the usual machine is either expensive or complicated and requires sophisticated control means to govern the cycles of the process, and all of which requires the constant attention of an operator. Therefore, it is a general object of this invention to provide a compact glass washer that operates automatically without attention. With the present invention there is a circular turn table or turret which revolves on demand through functional stations including a loading station, a pre-rinse station, a washing station, a final rinse station and a delivery station. These stations are arranged in circular sequence and operation is effected by removing washed glasses from the delivery station, and full capacity operation is effected by maintaining a full condition at the loading station.
This glass washer is a self-contained apparatus operable on demand to simultaneously perform all functions involved. Water is sprayed under pressure throughout the rinse and wash stations, and it is an object of this invention to separate these wet stations from the dry loading and delivery stations. With the present invention spray curtains are provided to establish this separation and through which the glasses are moveable with freedom. Further, a characteristic feature of the present invention which simplifies the apparatus greatly is the lack of physical barriers between the rinse and wash stations that are circumferentially contiguous.
The control of glass washers is usually by complex control means, or manually, it being an object of this invention to provide an automatic command means which governs all functions of the apparatus. With the present invention there is a shut-off bar or rod that is disengageable from a delivered glass by removing the latter and which activates the apparatus to advance another glass into engagement therewith, during which time interval the entire apparatus is in operation.
Glass washers of the type under consideration are supplied with hot and cold running water under moderate pressure and with electrical energy for motivation. Also, supplies of sterilizer and detergent are drawn from reservoirs and metered into the waters that are discharged onto the glassware. It is an object of this invention to advantageously employ the usual hot and cold water supply for the moderate pressure required of the rinsing functions, and to generate high water pressure to meet the requirements of effective washing by means of spraying. It is also an object to advantageously employ this low and high pressure available to the rinse and wash stations by supplying these separate functions with sterilizer and detergent separately applied, respectively.
With an apparatus as generally stated above, it is also an object to provide a basin with station separation for the collection and recycling of a greater portion of wash water with detergent, with a drain for the rinse water with disinfectant, and all to the end that the heated wash water and detergent is conserved while the cold rinse water and disinfectant is expanded with but a small percentage of said wash water that is replenished in a fluid controlled tank.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a glass washing apparatus of the character referred to that efficiently washes glassware installed thereon invertedly and adapted to "drip dry", there being a disposition of spray tubes or nozzles that are conducive to thorough cleaning. Make-up hot water is automatically added to the pumping system of the wash-detergent, while the temperature and spraying pressures of both rinse and wash waters is set or adjusted as required. Safety and sanitation are primary objects of this invention, there being no dangerous operation of components, and the working parts are self-cleaning and readily accessible for inspection and maintenance.